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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29901279">for the fallen plum blossom</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorypop/pseuds/dorypop'>dorypop</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>200 followers celebration prompts [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Relationship, M/M, Post-The Raven King, Pre-Epilogue</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:40:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,110</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29901279</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorypop/pseuds/dorypop</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam's Aglionby sweater was ruined, and it was Ronan's fault. For the tumblr prompt: "did you actually just apologize or was that just my imagination"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>200 followers celebration prompts [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2177475</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>134</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>for the fallen plum blossom</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariagvogel/pseuds/mariagvogel">@mariagvogel</a> requested a ficlet for this prompt: "did you actually just apologize or was that just my imagination" 💛</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="">
  <p>Adam was holding his now-ruined sweater so that the afternoon light coming through the window shot directly into the fabric. The stain was definitely still there, gently cupping the raven in the Aglionby crest.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Adam sighed and let himself fall onto his bed.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He couldn’t wear it to school anymore. He couldn’t resell it once he graduated as he had originally planned. He only had a spare and that one already had a small tear on the right sleeve from that time Adam had carelessly thrown it to the floor and it had caught on a stray splinter.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He didn’t think he could afford to buy another one this month.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Maybe if he cut a bit on the toothpaste. He couldn’t cut on his gas money because the time he saved driving to work was time he could employ studying. He was also running low on spare paper for his essay writing—he’d just have to get it right on his first draft. Or he could draft them mentally—preferably while driving to work. It would also save him some time. Or he could just forego breakfast completely—he’d get to sleep for fifteen more minutes everyday, plus he wouldn’t have to buy any milk.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>There was a knock on his door.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>It was Ronan, probably. Adam wasn’t sure he was in the right headspace for dealing with Ronan.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He opened the door.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronan pushed a carton of eggs into Adam’s hands.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Blue said raw egg yolk can remove chocolate stains,” Ronan said, coming inside Adam’s apartment without a greeting or an invitation. “You just have to rub it before washing.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You said you’d already washed it.” Adam didn’t know if he was mad or not that Ronan had gone to Blue for help.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Well, <em>yes</em>, but I didn’t know about the eggs.” Ronan’s eyes found the sweater by Adam’s pillow.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Just leave it,” Adam snapped, before Ronan could grab it and make it worse.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Come on, Parrish. Don’t be a dick. I said I’d fix it. So let me fucking fix it.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Adam left the half-dozen eggs on the only table in his apartment because he didn’t trust his hands not to crush them. “It’s not about the sweater,” he said, although it was <em>mostly</em> about the sweater.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Then <em>what</em>?” Ronan snarled.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Adam didn’t even know where to begin. He buried his hands in his hair—he wanted to pull at it until the pain didn’t let him think about anything else.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I <em>need</em> to take care of my things, Ronan,” he started, summoning patience from some secret source even he didn’t know about. “I can’t just fuck them up and replace them. I <em>can’t</em> <em>afford</em> that—”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I get that, man,” Ronan interrupted him, like what <em>he</em> had to say was more important than <em>Adam’s</em> feelings. Adam gritted his teeth. “It was my fault, that’s why I was trying to fix it before you freaked the fuck out this morning—”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Adam had heard enough. “Back up. Did you actually just apologize or was that just my imagination? Oh, wait, <em>you didn’t.</em> You fuck with my clothes in the middle of the night but <em>I</em> freak the fuck out. Is it <em>me</em> the thing that needs fixing, Ronan? Is that what you’re trying to say?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronan took a step towards him, then stopped.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“No. No, of course not.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Then what are you doing here?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronan looked around, as if only just then realizing where he was.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I brought some eggs,” he unhelpfully said.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Adam laughed. He probably sounded like a maniac, but at that point didn’t really have it in him to care. He just found it funny that those eggs could be the solution for his breakfast problem for at least a couple of days.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He really didn’t know how long he could keep going like this.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He really didn’t want to fight with Ronan.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What was the chocolate for?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What? Oh. I wanted to bake. I found this old cookie recipe my mom used to make—wanted to see if they tasted good for real or if it was just the memory of it what was good.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Cookies sounded nice. So did eggs.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronan raised an eyebrow when Adam’s stomach grumbled.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Adam ignored it. “Were they good?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I didn’t bake shit. I kinda panicked when I saw your sweater—I just threw it into the washing machine and kept looking at it while it spun around.” Ronan sat on Adam’s bed, a foot apart from the ruined sweater. He glanced at it before looking up to Adam. “I’m sorry. I know you have to care for your stuff.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Adam sighed. A part of him wanted to keep being mad, but he just didn’t know where to go to find the energy to do that.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He sat next to Ronan.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I’m so tired of this,” he whispered.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronan’s pinky finger brushed Adam’s. <em>I’m here</em>, it said. Adam took a shaky breath and leaned onto Ronan’s side. He was only mildly surprised when Ronan didn’t push him away, or let him fall, or did anything other than hold him tight and let him rest.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You can use the eggs to try again with those cookies,” Adam muttered, after a bit, when his breathing had calmed to match Ronan’s and the sky had turned pink outside his window.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“And the stain?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Adam nodded. “You can buy me a new sweater. As an apology.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ronan’s sudden laugh made his whole body shake, but Adam didn’t move an inch from where he was basically plastered to his side. He <em>did</em> yelp when Ronan started biting his earlobe, and Ronan took his chance to gently push Adam so that he was laying on his back.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Tell you what—I’ll buy you <em>two</em> sweaters. Brand new.” Ronan started a trail of kisses from Adam’s ear down his jaw. “So damn crispy that you’re going to have rashes from wearing them.” When he reached his chin, Ronan stopped to look directly into Adam’s eyes, as if to make sure Adam was paying attention, before he continued to the other side of his face. “And I’ll also buy you dinner because your insides are gonna burst <em>any second</em> now.” As if on queue, Adam’s stomach protested once more. Ronan abandoned Adam’s face to lift the seam of his shirt and kiss his belly button. “This’ll haunt me forever, man. It sounds like you killed a lion and then kidnapped its <em>ghost</em> and now you keep it trapped inside your belly. <em>Jesus</em>.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Despite his exhaustion, Adam found himself smiling. “It was a very scary lion.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Bet it was,” Ronan said, coming back up to <em>finally</em> kiss Adam’s mouth.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Title from a haiku by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke: remember / how I hurt / for the fallen plum blossom</p><p>First posted on <a href="https://hklnvgl.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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